Suvo Strategic Minerals has extended a major supply contract with Tasmanian paper mill operator Norske Skog for a further three years, with an estimated delivery of between 21 kilotonnes (kt) and 24kt of hydrous kaolin, an increase of up to 50pc on a previous contract.
The refreshed contract kicks off this month under the same terms and conditions – but with CPI adjustments - as the previous deal under which Suvo supplied Norske with about 16kt of its hydrous kaolin product.
The new range of potentially deliverable tonnages represents an increase of 31.25 per cent to 50 per cent over the old contract.
Norske Skog is a significant client for Suvo. The Norwegian paper and pulp company has mills in Europe and Australia and is a leading producer of publication paper, including newsprint and magazine paper, packaging and other bio-products.
Suvo also awaits feedback from its other customers undertaking big batch trials using its kaolin products. This includes testwork in Japan on the potential use of the company’s kaolin to control and capture dangerous potentially inhalable particulate lead emissions from municipal solid waste incineration.
Suvo Strategic Minerals executive chairman Aaron Banks said: “We welcome this contract extension with Norske Skog which demonstrates Suvo’s ability to supply large quantities of kaolin products. The increase in demand from one of our major customers means we anticipate significant growth in sales volumes in 2025 based on orders from existing customers.”
Suvo is focussed on expanding its sales of hydrous kaolin from its Pittong operation, 40 kilometres west of Ballarat in Victoria.
Pittong has been operating since 1972 and comprises Australia’s only wet kaolin mine and processing plant, with a nominal capacity of about 60,000 tonnes per annum.
Suvo currently draws its raw product from its Pittong and Lal Lal deposits which, along with a third deposit at Trawalla, occupy three approved mining licences in Victoria.
Run-of-mine feed is processed into four separate products to meet specific end-user requirements. The products comprise 10 per cent moisture lump, high solids slurry, 1 per cent moisture powder and 1 per cent moisture pulverised powder.
The solids slurry is used in paper and board manufacturing, while the other products are used in paper, coatings, paint and specialist industries, including rubber and pharmaceutical applications.
Suvo is also set to launch kaolin as a supplementary cementitious material, with the ultimate aim of displacing the traditional concrete binder, ordinary Portland cement, to create a lower-carbon cement alternative.
Ordinary Portland cement is almost universally used to manufacture concrete in a carbon-intense process that uses vast amounts of energy. Global cement manufacture represents about 8 per cent of the planet’s carbon dioxide emissions due to the significant input energy required for most stages of its production.
Suvo is developing and progressing the commercialisation of its “Murdoch Technology”, developed under licence with Western Australia’s Murdoch University.
The intellectual property licence relates to technologies used in the design of a geopolymer concrete batching plant and the production of Suvo’s low-carbon geopolymer concrete formulation, called Colliecrete.
Geopolymer concrete is a low-carbon concrete made by reacting aluminate and silicate-bearing materials with a caustic activator, such as metakaolin, fly-ash, ground blast furnace slag or other waste-derived materials.
The company’s new style of geopolymer concrete is considered a suitable replacement for concrete made using the traditional ordinary Portland cement binder.
Suvo has entered into a binding joint development agreement with WA’s leading pre-cast concrete supplier PERMAcast and has incorporated a joint venture special purpose vehicle to develop and commercialise low carbon geopolymer concrete products.
Under the joint venture, Suvo and PERMAcast will prepare and test various formulations and assess their suitability for varying applications, before settling on the best pathway to commercialise one or more formulations.
Suvo is a highly innovative company putting its unique kaolin and other alternative products – including industrial waste residues - to a broad range of applications while reducing or eliminating significant sources of carbon dioxide emissions.
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By Doug Bright
